John Romeo, a teacher and actor with the New York State Theater Institute, reacts to the board of directors' decision to close the institute at the end of December.
(Mike McMahon / The Record)

ALBANY -- There were hugs and tears Wednesday afternoon as the Board of Directors of the New York State Theater Institute voted unanimously to close the corporation at the end of the year.

"It feels like a funeral," said Eleah Peal after the 5-0 vote, held at the Capitol.

Peal, a senior at Columbia High School, has been taking classes at the institute for the last 12 years, and interned there this semester.

"It's horrible," she said. "I think that's just one word of many I could choose right now that would describe this moment. But I'm really proud of what the employees at NYSTI have done ... and no one has worked harder than they have."

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Funding for the 36-year-old institute was halved during the current budget, to $1.5 million, and will be cut entirely in the 2011 fiscal year. Employees received layoff notices effective Dec. 31.

Interim Producing Artistic Director David Bunce delivered an impassioned plea to board members before the vote, urging them to give employees more time to come up with money to fund NYSTI operations. The institute has provided New York's children with lessons in humanity and a world-class curriculum, putting on Broadway-quality productions that give students vital training and skills, Bunce said.

Now, "the curtain will close, the lights will dim, the theater will go silent and the doors will be locked," he said.

Bunce admonished Gov. David Paterson and his administration for the cuts, which he called "short-sighted" and "a targeted attack."

"Perhaps the Paterson administration would argue that there are initiatives that are a better investment for the State of New York," Bunce said. "We say, Gov. Paterson, that there is no more important investment than the future of the children of New York state."

In addition to being a detriment to the state's children, the loss of NYSTI, whose headquarters are on the Sage College campus in Troy, would eliminate $4 million per year in economic growth for the Collar City, Bunce said.

Bunce urged the board to approve a measure that would allow NYSTI employees, on a volunteer basis, to work throughout the next few months to secure the necessary funding for NYSTI to once again operate during the next fiscal year. He proposed securing a revolving line of credit from First Niagara Bank totaling $350,000 to add to NYSTI's operating budget, pledging the corporation's Troy property as collateral.

That plan was shot down by board president Larry Schwartz, who dismissed Bunce's speech as "a theatrical performance," and said that if anything hurt NYSTI, it was not the cut in funding, but the mismanagement and misuse of public funds by its previous board and founding Artistic Director Patricia Snyder that ran the program into the ground.

"It was them that put the children of NYTSI at risk, not this board and members," Schwartz said. "We can have all the theatrics we want, the bottom line is that NYSTI is out of money."

Even with the line of credit, Schwartz added, NYSTI would still need at least $1 million to keep itself afloat, money it just doesn't have.

"That's fact, that's not drama," he said.

NYSTI's remaining assets and property will be transferred over to the Office of General Services, and remain in escrow until Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo's administration takes office and decides whether or not to restore NYSTI funding in the next state budget.

The institution cannot officially be shuttered until legislation is passed.

Despite the glum atmosphere, Bunce, Peal and others remained hopeful that NYSTI could one day re-open.

"I think the best way I can put it is I'm ready for a miracle," Peal said. "I'm gonna go in with no expectations, but I'm ready for it."